Jack Dejohnette (drums, tom-tom, wooden flute, vocals) Larry Grenadier (acoustic bass, vocals) John Medeski (piano, Rhodes, Hammond B-3, wooden flute, vocals) John Scofield (guitar, wooden flute) Recorded January 2017, NRS Studios, Catskill, NY.United under the title of `Hudson` four luminaries of the contemporary jazz scene get together in a pop-up collaboration to celebrate in a variety of cunning and compelling musical forms their love of the Hudson Valley, a beautiful part of New York state where they all live when not touring in the fulfilment of their various individual projects. In so doing they find inspiration not only in the landscape, history and culture of the region but also in significant musical events that have taken place there, most notably the famous 1969 Woodstock Festival which is represented by versions of tunes by Bod Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix and The Band, who whilst resident in the area produced their fine folk/rock album, `Music from the Big Pink`.

The titular piece that opens the disc is an eleven-minute tone poem that to my mind conveys an impression of the valley in pre-settler days. With a vast array of sounds and effects at their disposal Medeski and Scofield conjure up vistas of lush forests and stirrings in the undergrowth whilst Grenadier invokes the pulse of teeming fauna and Dejohnette summons up the spirits of the indigenous peoples who dwelt there.The music draws in many influences as you would expect given the combined experience and background of musicians who became jazz stars but grew up in the era of rock, funk and folk. All these elements permeate what is essentially a jazz record displaying the familiar stylistic characteristics that each member of the band has made his own; for example, in the case of Scofield there are echoes of his early work with Miles Davis and the bop interpretations he crafted with his own trios. Medeski too, a highly resourceful musician on all the keyboards which he sometimes plays simultaneously, brings his work with diverse pop groups to bear on his command of the jazz language and Dejohnette, now in his 75th year, drawing on the fruits of an illustrious career is equally adept at laying down a heavy rock beat as performing percussive delicacies of minute precision. Grenadier, for his part, plays acoustic throughout with a warm, woody resonance that enhances the rural quality that underpins the concept, effectively bridging the folk and jazz elements.

As well as the aforementioned covers, which include a reggae version of Dylan’s `Lay Lady Lay` and a distraught almost psychedelic take on ` A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall` , there are several originals which allow for the exercise of more conventional jazz licks and the album ends on what sounds like an authentic Amerindian note ( but is actually credited to Johnette) in which all abandon their usual instruments for wooden flutes and shakers to perform in lusty voice the `Great Spirit Peace Chant.

It isn’t clear whether this collaboration is to be repeated in the future but even if `Hudson` produces nothing more this recording will stand as one of the most fascinating musical enterprises of 2017.​Reviewed by Euan Dixon